Reviews

Quick Review: Bobbi Brown Sultry Eyeshadow Palette

Bobbi Brown Sultry Eye Palette ($45.00 for 0.15 oz.) includes three eyeshadows and one long-wear eye paint. It features: Bone (off white), Antique Gold (deep gold sparkle), Caviar (black brown), and Brandy (rich golden bronze). The packaging is sleek and compact, and I love that they have an actual brush applicator included, rather than sponge-tipped ones!

The Long-Wear Eye Paints are new and featured in the three palettes from Bobbi Brown’s Smoky, Sultry, Smoldering Collection. According to Bobbi Brown, they are “high-pigment metallic eyeshadow that can be worn wet or dry.” She recommends “[applying] them with a damp Cream Shadow Brush for a strong, luminous and long-lasting pop of shimmering color that won’t crease.”

Bone is a soft, paled whitish beige. It’s very light, but it is usable as a highlighter on light to medium skin tones. Very smooth and buttery for a matte. This is a matte eyeshadow.

Antique Gold is a coppered bronze with a gold shimmered sheen. This is nicely pigmented, though it could be a little more intense. This is a metallic eyeshadow.

Caviar is a medium-dark blue-based black. This is a matte eyeshadow.

Brandy is a warm bronze with subtle shimmer-glitter. This is a long-wear eye paint. This works decently even when used dry, but for full potential, use it wet.

Each of the eyeshadows is 0.04 oz. (full-sized are 0.08 oz. for $20.00; 0.10 oz. for $20.00 for metallic eyeshadow), while the Long-Wear Eye Paint is 0.03 oz. (not currently available on its lonesome; but for valuation purposes, we’ll assume 0.08 oz. for $20.00). In this palette, you receive $20.00 worth of regular Eyeshadow, $8 worth of Metallic Eyeshadow, and $7.50 worth of Long-Wear Eye Paint. This totals to $35.50 worth of product. You do also receive a double-ended brush in the palette, which is usable (and one of the better brushes included in palettes)– we’ll say it’s $7 worth–bringing us to $42.50. It’s not a value-packed palette, but I don’t think you’re losing out.

Welcome to Swatch-all-idays! To start 2011 off on the right foot (or post, as it may be!), Temptalia is going through a backlog of products we have photographed, swatched, and often tested but in a slightly different manner. Quick reviews may be partially incomplete, such as a blush may only be swatched on the arm rather than shown on the face. It is our hope that what we are able to provide is still helpful!

If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!

Product: 27/30

Value: 8/10

Ease of Use: 4/5

Packaging: 4/5

FINAL THOUGHTS: Quality wise, I’d say this is the best of the three palettes from this Bobbi Brown Collection–these shades are the most pigmented, smoothest, and easiest to work with. It is interesting to see such a cool-toned black paired with the warmer metallic shades, though. If you’re looking for a palette for a go-to brown smoky eye, this would definitely work.

Chanel Spring 2011: Peche Nacree

Chanel Peche Nacree Le Vernis Nail Colour ($23.00 for 0.4 fl. oz.) is a medium-dark peach with pale white peach micro-shimmer strewn through it. It has a frost-metallic finish, so there are some visible brush strokes when under bright light. It’s opaque in two coats, despite being a lighter shade.

CHANEL LE VERNIS is a pricey product that often comes out with more unique shades (that are later replicated by other brands). The originality or amount of depth in their shades is what often pulls me towards them. Overall, I’ve had good luck with the formula and wear. The formula tends to be on the thicker side but not so thick it’s gloppy, while I typically get a full week’s worth of wear (and just minor tip wear).

Peche Nacree is peachier and darker than Chanel Django. It is also rather similar to MAC’s Seasonal Peach, actually–just the finish is different and it is less pink. I found two coats to be perfect for color opacity and general look and feel. The brush strokes in this shade are less noticeable than in Black Pearl but more than Pearl Drop.

If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!

Product: 27/30

Value: 6/10

Ease of Use: 4/5

Packaging: 4/5

FINAL THOUGHTS: It’s warm without being yellow orange, so it should suit both warm and cooler skin tones. I imagine it will lean pinker against cooler, pinker toned skin, than the warmer peach it is against my warmer skin tone.

Chanel Sari Dore Rouge Coco Lipstick

Chanel Sari Dore Rouge Coco Lipstick ($30.00 for 0.12 oz.) is a lightened orange with a little peach that has a lot of white micro-shimmer and a semi-frosted sheen. It applies nearly opaque, and it has a very reflective finish, so it can be worn by itself quite easily without looking flat. It is a new and limited edition shade from the Cote d’Azur Collection, which is online-only at this time–but you never know if it’ll pop-up in-stores (as SoHo eventually did, at least at select locations).

Rouge Coco is a slightly drier formula, because most of the shades are frost finishes, but I don’t find it drying–it’s just not moisturizing. It has a light vanilla-rose scent that’s rather faint but still detectable. It doesn’t seem to linger, though. On average, Rouge Cocos last four hours on me. I like the formula overall, and the shade range tends to be very wearable with a wide variety of colors from pinks to browns to reds.

If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!

Product: 27/30

Value: 8/10

Ease of Use: 4/5

Packaging: 4/5

FINAL THOUGHTS: This is one of the more wearable versions of orange I’ve come across; I actually think it may be an orange that’s appropriate for even cool skin tones, because it doesn’t pull too orange. The Rouge Coco formula is most suitable for those with relatively healthy lips; if your lips are dry and cracking, I would recommend opting for a more moisturizing formula (perhaps Rouge Allure, if you want to stay within Chanel).

Quick Review: Bobbi Brown Smokey Eyeshadow Palette

Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Palette ($45.00 for 0.15 oz.) includes three eyeshadows and one long-wear eye paint. It features: White (pure white), Tin (steel icy blue), Storm (dark grey), and Onyx (rich black). The packaging is sleek and compact, and I love that they have an actual brush applicator included, rather than sponge-tipped ones!

The Long-Wear Eye Paints are new and featured in the three palettes from Bobbi Brown’s Smoky, Sultry, Smoldering Collection. According to Bobbi Brown, they are “high-pigment metallic eyeshadow that can be worn wet or dry.” She recommends “[applying] them with a damp Cream Shadow Brush for a strong, luminous and long-lasting pop of shimmering color that won’t crease.”

White is a pure, cool-toned white. This is a matte eyeshadow.

Tin is a semi-sheer, pale silvery gray with a purple cast. This is a metallic eyeshadow.

Storm is a charcoal gray. This is a matte eyeshadow. I know it looks a lil’ sheer in the swatches, but being a matte, you won’t find any trouble getting the pigmentation to pop on the lid.

Onyx is a dark black with a soft sheen and silver and green shimmer-glitter. This is a long-wear eye paint. It really needs to be used wet in order to get rich, opaque color. When used dry, it’s sheer and a soft black instead.

Each of the eyeshadows is 0.04 oz. (full-sized are 0.08 oz. for $20.00; 0.10 oz. for $20.00 for metallic eyeshadow), while the Long-Wear Eye Paint is 0.03 oz. (not currently available on its lonesome; but for valuation purposes, we’ll assume 0.08 oz. for $20.00). In this palette, you receive $20.00 worth of regular Eyeshadow, $8 worth of Metallic Eyeshadow, and $7.50 worth of Long-Wear Eye Paint. This totals to $35.50 worth of product. You do also receive a double-ended brush in the palette, which is usable (and one of the better brushes included in palettes)– we’ll say it’s $7 worth–bringing us to $42.50. It’s not a value-packed palette, but I don’t think you’re losing out.

Welcome to Swatch-all-idays! To start 2011 off on the right foot (or post, as it may be!), Temptalia is going through a backlog of products we have photographed, swatched, and often tested but in a slightly different manner. Quick reviews may be partially incomplete, such as a blush may only be swatched on the arm rather than shown on the face. It is our hope that what we are able to provide is still helpful!

If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!

Product: 26/30

Value: 8/10

Ease of Use: 4/5

Packaging: 4/5

FINAL THOUGHTS: I don’t think this is a must-have palette; the shades are dupe-able enough that you may already have a great selection of smokey-eyed hues in your stash. I’m not impressed with the pigmentation of Tin, and White isn’t going to work as a highlighter for more skin tones (too stark!). It’s a decent palette, but with as many holiday palettes out there, I’d opt for something else. (By the by, products don’t lose points for being dupe-able.)

Chanel Spring 2011: Pearl Drop

Chanel Pearl Drop Le Vernis Nail Colour ($23.00 for 0.4 fl. oz.) is a softened white gold frost with a slight metallic finish, sprinkled with pale gold micro-shimmer. There is something about this that reminds me of two things: brides and

CHANEL LE VERNIS is a pricey product that often comes out with more unique shades (that are later replicated by other brands). The originality or amount of depth in their shades is what often pulls me towards them. Overall, I’ve had good luck with the formula and wear. The formula tends to be on the thicker side but not so thick it’s gloppy, while I typically get a full week’s worth of wear (and just minor tip wear).

Pearl Drop stays true to past Chanel lacquers; the same slightly thicker formula with decent pigmentation, but this is a shade that seems designed to be worn sheer. I used two coats, and you could definitely try a third, but I think there was enough visible nail line at two that there would still be some at three. If you want a more opaque effect, try wearing a base polish underneath (like a white) to make it pop.

Edited @ 8:21AM: Sorry… swatches should be fixed! I was sleeping so I wasn’t able to get them faster – really sorry all for screwing up so badly!

If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!

Product: 27/30

Value: 6/10

Ease of Use: 4/5

Packaging: 4/5

FINAL THOUGHTS: I really like this shade, but I’m personally a fan of golds and white golds in general, so I find it a very flattering shade against my warm skin tone. I do think that this shade can be found in other brands, though, so you may want to check your stash first.

Benefit Bella Bamba Boxed Powder ($28.00 for 0.28 oz.) is a brightened medium pink with pale gold shimmer-sheen. It’s fairly pigmented and can easily be used as an intense blusher, but it’s soft and fine enough in texture to be used as a sheer color on cheeks when blended out. I want to say it’s like a mix of Coralista and Sugarbomb but distinctly pink, not really a coral at all.

At first glance, it seems like Bella Bamba might just be another NARS Orgasm variation, but it’s so much pinker than those peachy-pinks. The closest dupe I could think of was Chanel Pink Explosion Joues Contraste, which is slightly cooler and has less gold shimmer. NARS Angelika is closest in color by NARS, but it’s really more a mesh of that blush with Albatross, I’d say.

I’m a little disappointed to see Benefit cutting the product size down by so much–a lot of their boxed powders have as much as 0.42 oz., while ones that are lower hover around 0.35 oz. It’s just as pigmented and incredibly similar in texture to Coralista, which is a full 0.42 oz. It’s still a lot of product for $28 (most blushes are 0.15 oz. or so), but it was something I thought was worth noting. I’m also not a fan of the flip-top packaging, because it doesn’t stay open on its own (probably more frustrating to photograph than to use, I suppose, though). I prefer the removable lid myself.

If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!

Product: 29/30

Value: 9/10

Ease of Use: 4/5

Packaging: 4/5

FINAL THOUGHTS: I think this is a great boxed powder, and even though they reduced the size, it’s still a ton of blush for the price. It’s nicely pigmented win a flattering pink that’s not too cool or warm; the golden sheen makes it suitable for warmer skin tones while the slightly cool-toned pink of the shade itself works well on cool skin tones, too.